7 Creative Ways to Hype a New Product on Social Media

It’s approaching your new product’s launch date. You’ve been working your butt off and want people to get as excited about it as you are.

How can you make sure your pre-launch hype makes more than a ripple on social media?

We’ve got seven creative tips on how to use social to ensure your product makes a splash.

Bonus: Get the step-by-step social media strategy guide with pro tips on how to grow your social media presence.

7 ways to build excitement about a new product on social media

1. Create a hashtag

Coinciding with the announcement of her new album, Cuz I Love You, pop (bop) star Lizzo created the hashtag #CuzILoveYou.

Not only is the hashtag a great way for Lizzo’s fans to follow everything going on with the album drop and how her followers are reacting to it, but she was able to get creative with its promotion. On Valentine’s Day Lizzo herself encouraged fans to tweet using the #CuzILoveYou hashtag, retweeting those that did.

This clever approach gets the audience excited about their involvement and more engaged in the release.

❤️Happy ‘Cuz I Love You’ Day! ❤️

My gift to you is this music video! I hope it tastes like chocolate and flowers, baby.

2. Get creative with your promotional deals

It’s one thing to have a limited-time deal to promote your new product, but what about also promoting the people who make that product what it is?

Proper Footwear, a brand new player in the skateboarding shoe world, focuses heavily on supporting independent skateboard shops and skaters directly. To that end, they post regular deals on Instagram coinciding with the launch of new product or videos where the offer codes are named after their team riders, encouraging you to save some dough and follow their team. Those skaters whose codes are used even getting commission on each sale!

This ingenious technique doesn’t just ingratiates the brand as one who fully supports its riders, but also gets its audience to follow them, which is extra promotion all year long.

3. Tell a story

Compelling narrative is a powerful way to get people engaged with your product before it hits the shelves.

No6 Coffee Co. uses social to tell stories about the ways everyday folks and businesses use their product. This is not only an interesting, innovative way to showcase their new blends, but it also highlights the positive relationship existing clients have with their coffee. That’s something that can pay dividends when promoting to new ones.

Plus, you then get the attention of the followers of the people and businesses you’re showcasing, essentially appealing to two audiences at once. Not bad.

4. Give a sneak-peak

Everlane is a digital-first apparel brand that excelled on Snapchat long before the advent of Instagram Stories, getting a powerful head start in the “ephemeral content” format.

They use Stories to give authentic, behind-the-scenes looks into the inner workings of the company. Not only on a day-to-day basis but with detailed sneak-peeks of future products. From concept to production, these glimpses into their process build hype while speaking to their core value: transparency.

Everlane goes deep into the origins of each new product, those insights creating a trust with their customers that reinforces their brand.

5. Team up with local artists or businesses

A brand’s willingness to collaborate with its community is an endearing quality, helping it establish authenticity on a brand level and a product level.

Emerging literary publisher Metatron Press hosts regular Instagram Takeovers by writers who have books coming out or who are involved in their events. These people control the content of Metatron’s page for a few days at a time.

This gives the artists a substantial platform to promote their upcoming work, gets their followers interested in Metatron, and shows that the publisher is supportive of the community it serves. Bonus: this genuine approach goes a long ways to building brand trust.

6. Have a giveaway

Speaking of books (we like books), Strange Light, a fresh new imprint from Penguin House Canada, hosted a product giveaway—before they’d even released any titles.

It might sound like they put the cart before the horse, but really this is an ingenious way to build hype.

To enter, all fans had to do was follow Strange Light and Penguin Random House Canada’s Instagram accounts and like the contest post. Once a winner was chosen (at random) they received Strange Light buttons and tote bags. They also received two advance copies of the upstart press’ first books.

For diehard fans in any realm, whether it’s NASCAR, video games or books—people love an exclusive. And there’s nothing more exclusive than someone getting your product before it’s even on the shelves. That’s why online giveaways are so effective at building hype and growing your following on social media.

7. Video teasers

Strathcona Brewery does just that. Each new brew they release gets the “Dancing Canman” treatment—fun Instagram length clips that show the different “personalities” of the beer through music and dance moves.

This is a great way to establish the vision for a new product while still staying within the overall theme of your brand.

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